A typical network computing environment includes multiple personal computers or workstations (collectively, client processors) coupled to a network and one or more resource servers which store and provide resources to the client data processor. Additionally, a dedicated processor, a domain controller, provides administrative and management services to the network. The resource servers store applications and data which are used on the client processors on the network in accordance with the requirements of the users of the respective client processors. A particular user may be associated with a corresponding client on the network, for example, a personal computer on the user's desk. Further associated with the user, may be a suite of applications which the user requires in performing his or her day-to-day tasks. These applications, which are provided to the user via the network, by the resource server, may appear on the user's computer display as an iconized representation. These applications may be customized according to the particular user's needs.
In such a prior art network, the client processors are locally configured. Thus, the appearance of the desktop presented to the user after logon, corresponds to the configuration appropriate to the particular user associated with a client processor. Thus, in an environment where users "roam," that is, find it necessary to access applications from a client processor other than their own, such users may not have the necessary applications available to them. Then, a network administrator must locally reconfigure each client processor from which the roaming user accesses the network. Therefore, there is a need in the art for methods and apparatus which enables domain controller based configuration of networked client processors. There is additionally a need in the art for such controller based configuration methods and apparatus wherein roaming users are presented with their individual desktop representations at every networked client processor from which they may access the network.